“Can you tell us who the captain is? You stand deep and the field turns,” said a journalist and put Ravindra Jadeja on the wrong foot for a moment.
Chennai Super Kings, Under Jadeja, having lost their third consecutive IPL match – a new low in the franchise’s history – and it was not unreasonable to ask why things were going wrong for the defending champions so far. While Jadeja faced uncomfortable questions off the field, it was quite clear that he was not the de facto leader of the team on this one.
Apart from going for the toss, Jadeja didn’t have much of a role as captain on the field and the journalist was right in pointing out that every field, or bowling change, was being controlled by Dhoni. TV cameras also turned off as coach Stephen FlemingWas discussing with everyone, during a break Dhoni As Jadeja seemed like a spectator.
“I think Dhoni is still the captain of the team. When I see Jadeja, he is fielding outside the ring. By doing this you will not be able to control a lot of things and he gave Dhoni a headache. Field setting. He is shedding some of his weight and putting it on Dhoni’s shoulders,” Harbhajan Singh, former Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians Office, explained the situation in the post-match TV show.
It is not the most charitable comment for Jadeja, who perhaps sees CSK’s captaincy as a move to claim India’s white-ball captaincy. Rohit Sharma, Jadeja is comfortably India’s No. 1 all-rounder in white-ball cricket and the fact that his contemporaries like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya and Mayank Agarwal are leading other teams in the IPL has fueled his hunger to lead a franchise. would have increased. It was a given that Jadeja would one day lead CSK, but Dhoni decided to ease the transition process by handing over the leadership while he was still on the field.
It is true that this formula worked beautifully when Kohli became the captain of all formats of India and Dhoni helped him with the white ball captaincy. But one must not forget that Kohli and Jadeja are not the same, just like there is a difference between CSK and team india,
Despite the confidence Kohli had shown in Dhoni, he was still his own man on the field, but Jadeja still hasn’t shown that he is in charge. The fact that Dhoni is more than just a player for CSK – he is the heart and soul of the franchise – makes it even more difficult for Jadeja to impose himself on the field.
The CSK management, however, insisted that Jadeja was being groomed for the captaincy and made him a part of the decision-making process. And the Saurashtra southpaw also says he feels comfortable getting “input” from Dhoni.
The rocky start to the CSK campaign has not been just about a change of captaincy. CSK’s well-documented strategy of old hands-on banking has so far not delivered returns. It looks even more appealing as few other Indian newcomers like Aayush Badoni (Lucknow), Lalit Yadav (Delhi Capitals) and Vaibhav Arora (Punjab Kings) are making a significant impact.
However, there has been one positive, and that is Dhoni’s batting form.